


As The Years Went By

by headasskit



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Asami Sato-Centric, F/F, F/M, Fencing, Gay yearning, M/M, Mixed Martial Arts, Original Character(s), Slow Burn, teen asami/korra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27344503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headasskit/pseuds/headasskit
Summary: Asami’s alone for the first time in a long time and the one person she wants to be with is far away. As the sky turns gray, monsoon season begins and rain starts to overtake Republic City as Asami reflects on her the years that have gone by.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Bolin/Opal (Avatar), Korra/Asami Sato, Lin Beifong/Kya II, Mako/Asami Sato, Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar)
Kudos: 14





	1. 0

**Author's Note:**

> This whole thing basically explores Asami as a person, outside of Korra and the Krew, even though they're still apart of this it's still very much Asami centric. As the story goes on, we explore Mako, Bolin and Korra too but, it all starts with Asami. 
> 
> Also, there is no bending or avatar in this universe.

For most of her life, Asami was somehow always alone at the beginning of every monsoon season. 

She watched the streets of Republic City flood with rain like they did every year. Rain and wind took over the city and it filled your shoes and hair. There were the lucky prepared few but most people just shook mud out of their hair like dogs and that's how they knew it was the beginning of monsoon season. The wind was stronger, the rain was heavier and like always the city was full of momentary bliss. 

Cars occasionally sped by as couples ran through the rain using jackets as umbrellas. Asami watched her neighbors, mostly affluent young and middle-aged people, smoke cigarettes under umbrella’s and laugh as they watched their children jump up and down in delight. 

Children ran out of homes wearing bright colored raincoats and boots. Parents trailed after them wearing bright smiles, filling the streets with laughter. Some parents wore a look and spoke in a tone Asami was much more familiar with. She watched clearly exhausted women put on a smile and yell, “Be careful!” praying that their children were as oblivious as they seemed. 

Friends tried to avoid the small armada of children’s splashes of dirty water as they crossed the street. Almost all of them failed but, they laughed it off while the parent of whatever child was responsible apologized. 

As the years went by Asami realized that no matter what happened, that mundane and intangible bliss that seemed to overtake most people disappeared in a few days. Everyone would eventually get sick of the strong winds, the rain, the occasional floods, and the flu that seemingly everyone would catch. 

Their joy would fade as everything else did and in no time, it would just be another day in the city. That was just how it was and for some reason, Asami thought of it every year. 

It haunted her, how quickly things went from joyful to unbearable. How quickly people adapted to unbearable things and those things, those circumstances, simply became the new normal. 

Asami chuckled before grabbing the half-empty bottle of tequila that sat on a small coffee table near her. She was drunk as the sky wept, the streets flood, the windows sang, and yet, somehow she could still hear the children’s laughter. She could see their parents’ love for each other; their love for their children. Asami’s chest filled with this pain she didn’t quite understand and yet, knew a little too well. 

She stood and stumbled towards a wooden table at the entrance of the sitting room. She placed her bottle on the table, threw herself on the chair next to it, and let out a bitter laugh, a sigh, a groan, and then glanced at the telephone. Her eyes moved away from it and towards the record player and then back. 

She looked at the plants she thought would be dead by now, the box of records under the table, the clock, and then back at the telephone. 

Asami picked it up, listened to its hum, dialed a number, listened to the phone ring and nobody picked up. 

She hangs up.

She stares at the phone. She picks up the phone, hears a hum, dials a number, listens to the phone ring, and again, nobody picks up. 

“Happy birthday, Asami,” she whispered under her breath, “We’re so happy to be here Asami!”

She took a deep breath in and grabbed a Doris Day record, popped up her player, and put everything in order. In a few moments, she heard Doris sing, ‘when I was just a little girl, I asked my mother…’ and it immediately took her back to the days where she came back from school. 

Her mother would sing this song and dance with Asami. Tickling her and asking her about her day. Those afternoons were perhaps the happiest she had ever been. The house was full of light and love every time her mother sang to her while she felt like the luckiest little girl in the world. 

Asami had just turned twenty-two years old and for the first time in the past two years that she was alone in an empty home surrounded by silence; trying to drown all of her emotions. 

Asami let out a laugh, “Everything gets worse when you’re twenty-two!” She yelled, her voice echoing through her house, “I’d hate to be you, Ms. Sato.”

She felt like she was in a hazy dream she’d hate later on. She floated from room to room and only realized that time had passed because a different song was playing. 

A part of her knew that she was Asami Sato, she could call one number and her home would be filled with tens of people she barely knew all there to kiss up to her. The sole and lonely heir to an unimaginable fortune. A young, unfathomably intelligent, beautiful woman who could be claimed by any living person who matched wits with her. 

Asami was the dream and yet, she sat drunk and alone in a dark home thinking of a woman that was far away. A woman that hadn’t called to wish her a happy birthday. A woman that always made her feel as if her very existence was the greatest thing to ever happen. A woman that made her life an adventure. 

Asami tried to clear her head as she left her hazy state but, it didn’t help that the first thing she heard Doris sing was. “If I give my heart to you, will you handle it with care?”

She knew that Korra lay in the Southern Water Tribe feeling like a part of her died and yet, she somehow couldn’t get over the fact that she sat alone in a house that felt haunted. 

Asami sat on her couch, as silent as one could be as she found herself completely lost in requiem. 

Thunder roared, rain hit her windows, a bottle of tequila sat in her hand and she couldn’t help but think about complicated feelings she couldn’t seem to drown. Complicated feelings that made a part of her hope that she’d drop dead like her mother.

Asami felt like a ghost of her former self. The self that felt young and full of life; the Asami Sato that was indescribably perfect.

From her lips to her eyes to her jaw. People loved her elevated collar bones that popped out of her smooth skin. Her jet black hair matched her emerald eyes perfectly. Asami Sato was a dream to so many.

They were usually bewitched when she spoke and when she laughed? They were beyond captivated and powerless to her; they did nothing but stare at her like she was an anomaly they’d momentarily fallen in love with.

It was easy for Asami to tell when someone had momentarily fallen for her; they’d stutter and not be able to look away while she spoke about virtually anything.

They’d smile when she smiled. Their eyes would light up when hers did.

It was easy to adore Asami too. She was polite and generous. She was unapologetic in a way that never seemed to alienate anyone. She’d enter a room where everybody knew her and she’d still introduce herself.

It was one of the most disarming things she did and usually, by the end of the night, someone would be trying to take her home so they could have her be theirs for one fleeting moment.

Yet, the way Asami lived her life was perhaps the most perfect facade she’d ever had the pleasure of witnessing. In all her years running around socialites and their perfectly crafted cloaks; none came close to hers.

The girl who came from the perfect loving home but, in reality; the Sato household was far from perfect and so was she. She was just playing the part she was given and it wasn’t until she crashed into Mako that she lived in a way that was surprising to anyone.


	2. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed Asami's age from 20 to 22 because her being 20 wouldn't make any sense tbh.

  
Asami Sato spent most of her teenage years dancing in dimly lit rooms full of people she barely knew, who were all chasing the momentary high that came with nights like those. Nights filled to the brim with a satisfying amount of teenage recklessness. 

Nights like those were something they could do over and over again until they got just enough adrenaline to make them feel like they were doing something real with their lives. 

Asami can’t say she didn’t participate. She can’t say that she didn’t indulge in the same hedonistic practices everyone else did. She can’t say she didn’t enjoy the masquerade ball they all lived in. 

In all honesty, Asami adored those fleeting moments of intoxicated joy that simply could not be replicated while she was sober. She adored the little looks she could thoughtlessly reciprocate to someone beautiful across the room. She adored the fact that it could lead to quiet gasps in the dark as she experienced drunken bliss with someone ready to give her everything they had. 

Every blue moon, she’d take someone up on that offer. She’d let them give her everything that they had and watch as they slowly realized that Asami was nothing like they’d imagined. Eventually, they’d leave her and she’d think to herself, “Is this how my mother felt?”

The first time someone left her because she wasn’t what they wanted was when she was fifteen. He was tall and handsome. He had grey streaks in his hair although he was only sixteen when they dated. He wanted to study astronomy and thought Asami was nothing more than a bright-eyed girl he could wear like a watch. A piece of decoration that made him look better but, he quickly realized that she was everything but that. 

He found her fascinating. She was younger than him and yet, already knew all the things he aspired to learn and for a while, Asami thought that they would last. Unfortunately, one day he came up to her and said, “It’s been fun.” Then walked away from her like she was nothing. 

Asami knew she didn’t love him but, she also knew she liked him. As the years went by, she wondered what it’d feel like to be left by someone she loved. 

Eventually, she met Lady Kiri Kiyoko of the Fire Nation; the daughter of a Fire Nation noble who was serving as an ambassador in Republic City. 

She’d arrived at the beginning of the second semester and Asami couldn’t take her eyes off of her. Nobody could blame her for it either. She had the most beautiful honey eyes Asami had ever seen. Kiri was tall, intelligent, witty, understanding and every part of her felt like it was made for Asami. 

Kiri fell for Asami for the same reasons everyone else did. Asami Sato was perfect but, what Kiri got from Asami was different from what everybody else got. She got Asami’s softest moments, she got her love and Asami Sato truly loved Kiri Kiyoko. She loved being adored by Kiri, she was this oblivious and charming girl who couldn’t do math to save her life yet, talk about theoretical physics for hours. 

The first time Kiri spoke to Asami she said, “Why do you keep staring at me??” 

Asami went a bright red and for the first time, she started stuttering and looking at her friend Kasun, praying to every God that’d he’d save, but he just shrugged and said, “Well, you gotta answer the question Asami.”

Asami looked back at Kiri who held an amused look. She looked down at a book Kiri was holding and in an attempt to save herself asked, “Is that Ryu Sun-Woo’s book on the big bang?”

Kiri looked down at her book and said, “Yeah, you’ve heard of her?”

“No-i mean yes, I read-i read her book,” Asami paused and Kiri furrowed her eyebrows, looked back down at her book, and said, “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think?”

Asami gave Kiri an excited look and said, “I think it’s insane but, it’s possible.”

“I mean nobody knows how we got here so, the question isn’t whether or not it’s real-“

“We just gotta figure out how far fetched it is,” Asami gave Kiri a smile and Kasun slowly walked away. 

In six days everybody seemed to think that Kiri was the perfect woman for Asami. In six weeks everyone had accepted that they had no chance at dating either of them any time soon.

In six months Kiri made Asami feel as if the entire universe was at her fingertips. She was willing to go to the ends of the earth and back for her and when Asami’s world fell apart? Kiri was ready to take care of her any way she could. Except, instead of letting herself be comforted by Kiri, Asami shut down and became a person Kiri had never met.

She went from talkative and filled with laughter to quiet and reserved. She barely ate, her body ran cold, she barely slept and she never let Kiri see her at her worst. 

Asami shivered at night and silently cried. Most nights Kiri was there but as the weeks went by she was there less and less. Asami understood why and she couldn’t blame her.

“It must be difficult,” said Asami, her voice cracking. 

“Mhm?” Said Kiri not looking up from her book.

Asami took a sharp breath in. She couldn’t help but admire her girlfriend. Her wavy hair, her oversized blue sweater, her tailored trousers. The way she bit her thumb and always put her necklaces between her ring and pink finger when she read something that required her undivided attention.

Asami adored how her circular glasses sat a little too low on the bridge of her nose and how it never seemed to bother her. She adored the way she brought one leg to her chest and folded the other when she sat on chairs. 

Asami looked at Kiri and felt her heart flutter. She was goner, she always had been, and yet, she felt like the most selfish partner to ever live. 

“God ’Sami you’d love this book,” she breathed out, looking up at Asami who couldn’t help but meet her eyes. It was then that Kiri saw it, in a moment she saw exactly how Asami felt, and it gave her a certain comfort she hadn’t felt in a while. 

It’d been 2 months since Asami’s mother died and in a week they would’ve officially been together for 9 months. For a while, Kiri thought that Asami would leave her. That she didn’t want her and yet, there Asami was, staring at her like she was the most perfect thing in the world. 

Asami couldn’t look away from her. Asami couldn’t repeat herself. She couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence and say what she wanted to say. What she believed was the right thing to do. So instead, she did what her father did; she swallowed her feelings and tried to make the person she loved happy. 

She smiled at Kiri, leaned forward, and said, “What’s it about?”

Kiri’s face lit up and a smile Asami hadn’t seen in what felt like years appeared. She looked at the book and then looked back at Asami, “Really? You want to know?”

It was then that Asami had truly realized the harm she’d done, “Yeah,” she replied trying to hide her distress. 

Kiri scanned Asami and looked back at the book, “Get this,” Kiri starts and Asami felt as if nothing had changed, “It’s a series of interviews and a personal account of what the fire nation was like after the imprisonment of Firelord Ozai and Princess Azula.”

Kiri paused and looked at Asami who was leaning a lot closer than she was before, “Okay and why’d you stop?” 

Kiri stands and starts walking around, “It goes into how the New Ozai society truly affected Fire Nation society and how Firelord Zuko was loved because of how the dynasty had made sure that no matter what happened, anyone with Fire Nation blood was taken care of-“

“So even though society was oppressive and filled to the brim with propaganda-“

“The citizens were still, in one way or another, living the good life. But get this, this man Fudo, he interviews EVERYONE!”

“Everyone?”

“Everyone Asami, literally everyone. Sokka of The Southern Water Tribe, Aang one of the last descendants of the Air Nation, Yue The PRINCESS OF THE NORTHERN WATER TRIBE and a close ally of Sokka.”

“A very close ally?”

“Oh, they were very close…associates.”

Asami laughed and Kiri’s smile couldn’t have been bigger. She let out a chuckle and just looked at Asami who’s smile filled her with nothing but warmth. She like she was seeing the first for the first time in months. 

“You know who I’ve always been fascinated by?” Said Asami, “Azula.”

“Azula?!” Kiri let out a chuckle and moved toward the couch Asami sat on, “Fudo paints her as this sociopath…”

Asami watched Kiri walk towards her, a smile plastered on her face, her eyes full of light. Suddenly she felt the same way she felt when she kissed her for the first time. 

“She was not a sociopath she was a-“

Kiri put her palm on her face and Asami felt Kiri’s warm hands send shockwaves through her body. Asami’s breathed through her mouth for a few moments before closing the distance between them. 

Each kiss was needier than the other. Kiri climbed on top of Asami as their lips crashed onto one another and Asami couldn’t help but feel this sudden relief wash over her. She felt her throat clench and her eyes tear up as she wrapped her arms around Kiri’s neck. 

Kiri felt Asami hold her tighter than she usually did. She broke their kiss and gave her a worried look, “What’s wrong?” 

Asami didn’t immediately answer Kiri freaked out and started moving away, “I’m so sorry, oh my god I’m-“

“No,” said Asami, sitting up and grabbing Kiri, “Don’t do that,” Asami grabbed Kiri and looked her in the eye, “Please don’t do that.”

Kiri nodded and stared into Asami’s eyes. Asami smiled and put her forehead on Kiri’s, “Baby?”

“Mhm?”

“I’m sorry for dragging you along with me-”

“You didn’t drag me-“

Asami kissed Kiri before sighing and saying, “I really did.”

Kiri opened her eyes, put her forehead on Asami’s, and said, “Are you breaking up with me?”

“No,” Asami kissed her again, “But, I’m giving you an out-“

“I don’t need an-“

“Yes, you do,” Said Asami preparing herself, “You always do.” 

Asami let go of Kiri and it felt like she’d let go of her whole world, “If you want to go this-“ 

“I don’t want to-“

“I will never hold it against you.”

“Asami,” whispered Kiri, letting out a shaky breath, “I love you and I’m not leaving.”

Asami stared at her for a while and a part of her knew that it was unrealistic and yet, she wholeheartedly believed her. A few days went by and by all accounts, Asami was back to her old self. Happy, talkative, and filled with laughter. 

Eventually, like all things, her relationship with Kiri ended. They’d both agreed that long-distance would be difficult and so, Kiri kissed her one last time. 

Asami could swear to a thousand different holy men that the moment Kiri’s lips left hers, the moment her breath left Asami’s skin, a piece of her left to the fire nation. She’d given it away voluntarily and yet, she felt the emptiness it left behind. The emptiness she left behind.

After Kiri left she couldn’t help but notice the seemingly never-ending silence that surrounded the Sato home. The nothingness that surrounded her. 

Her father was away, the people who took care of the house, took care of her, were in their own homes with their loved ones and Asami couldn’t help but think to herself, “Is this how my mother felt? Could she hear the silence?”

Months went by and Asami met Ryo Fukui, the head of design engineering at Future Industries. She somehow convinced him to take her on as an apprentice and although Fukui was apprehensive at first, he slowly realized that they were a match made in heaven. 

Asami was creative and truly changed the way the design section of the company functioned. She improved his older designs, created her own, and in two months, Asami knew that this was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Ryo taught her the ins and outs of every possible engine and the way weight and speed were one of the first things you had to consider before you even started to think about building a moving machine. 

In a year, Asami was Ryo’s right hand and her plane designs were sent to the United Forces where they were almost immediately approved of.

Asami was, in many ways, the leader of Future Industries before her time had come. Hiroshi, her father, was getting ready to retire when one afternoon, Asami crashed her scooter into Mako. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryo Fukui is actually a real person except he's a jazz artist from 80s Japan. Also please tell me if there are any spelling mistakes I'd appreciate it a lot.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this :)


End file.
